“It’s like… going into old Greek history where you go into the cathedral – or whatever that thing is called – and everybody wants you to lose”, said Johnson, who scored in Canada’s 1-0 win over Honduras in Vancouver Friday night. Four points from these November qualifiers would be a good start for Canada and a strong platform from which to mount a serious assault on the next round of qualifying (the CONCACAF Hexagonal tournament).
Advertisement
“It gives us a different dynamic, especially with Junior coming into the team”, said Hutchinson. “There will be games where we don’t have as many options and we have to finish better”. “We started off with a lot of confidence and played the way we wanted to”. “It feels good to have taken another positive step for this country”.
The match also happened to be Julian De Guzman’s 85 match with the Canadian national team. It was a defeat that knocked Canada out of the battle for a place in the 2014 World Cup.
El Salvador’s Estadio Cuscatlan is akin to an ancient coliseum, Canada’s Will Johnson told the Toronto Sunday.
Canada’s next Group A games are March 25 against Mexico at a home venue to be determined, followed by a fixture March 29 at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
For El Salvador, the biggest concern lies in its form: its only wins in the last 12 months have been against Nicaragua, St. Kitts, and Curacao – hardly regional powerhouses.
“Hopefully we’ll continue to make improvements in that area”, Johnson said during a one-on-one conversation. “He was really sharp tonight”. Striker Cyle Larin, the 20-year-old Major League Soccer Rookie of the Year, sent winger Junior Hoilett away down the left flank. Hoilett got nearly to the end line before sending a terrific cross to the far post. In fact, there’s a Facebook group that’s been started to promote a boycott of the match in solidarity of the striking players, and one local official said he wouldn’t be surprised if only 15,000 fans showed up. I think he just missed (the header) and I was there to follow it up. “And that cross was mighty special”. Honduran goalkeeper Noel Vallardares went full stretch to his left and got a finger tip on the ball, which hit the inside of the right post and back across the face of goal before being cleared.
Apparently, Johnson’s right leg is just fine. There’s little doubt that Andres Guardado and Javier Hernandez will play, who plays alongside them will be the question and that might not be answered till close to game time. “But I suppose that people will try to prepare it because this is an official game”, Canadian coach Benito Floro said after training on Monday. “I learned from that and I fixed it. I don’t think I’ll be asked a whole lot more about my leg after tonight”. For him, for Canada.
With Canada clinging to a 1-0 lead over Honduras late in the second half, Borjan had multiple, uh, shady conversations with a ball kid directly behind his goal. Canada goalkeeper Milan Borjan made a few terrific stops in the second half to preserve the victory.
Advertisement
Friday at B.C. Place, Canada backed up their talk of a new identity.
